Q&A Forum - August 2010 ("Searching for Wanda" edition)

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A. There were a number of S&M scenes gone seriously wrong between extreme players back in the 60’s , 70’s and 80’s prior to the “safe, sane and consensual” mantra being preached like it is today. People are now encouraged to become educated about the health and safety risks of ‘extreme’ and ‘advanced’ S&M activities. As with all tragedies in life, the safety procedures are mandated and put in place usually only after someone has been injured, or worse. Just as many of the safety features on your automobile did not exist until after a lot of people were injured, the same can be said for almost every aspect of our lives. D&S and S&M is no exception.

Only a fool would engage in some dangerous and unhealthy activity after reading about it in a fictitious book. In “Searching for Wanda” I shared the story of Alan and Audrey and how Alan became obsessed with trying to coax Audrey into becoming just like Hilda Mansell. Yet, neither Alan nor Audrey practiced anything that was unsafe. Audrey made sure that Alan was never totally bound and left alone, as he always had at least one hand free with the telephone within reach, and she refused to engage in the most risky activities that were portrayed in “An Excess of Love”.